Mother of Utah coronavirus patient 'angry' it took days to test her son

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (KUTV) – The mother of one of Utah's 257 reported cases of coronavirus is upset that it took the state days to test her son and scared that she could not get him into a hospital.

The mother, who did not want to be identified, talked with 2News reporter Chris Jones Monday about her experience with her son getting COVID-19. She says:

I was so mad. I was so angry because the health system let him down.

On March 11, the mother says her 46-year-old son's health began to deteriorate with headaches, muscle pains, and a loss of appetite.

She says her son goes to the gym and doesn't have a single health problem, but says the coronavirus has ravaged him in a way nothing else has before. She says:

Just to stand up was really hard for him.

The woman says he flew to Utah from Virginia with someone who was showing COVID-19 symptoms -- but that wasn't enough to get him tested. She says the health department turned him away.

The mother tells 2News:

Each day that he called, they said; 'maybe you ought to go here, maybe you ought to go there.' They told him unless he starts feeling it in his lungs not to come in. It was like he was begging to have them to check him. It took 4 days for him to finally get tested.

Two days later, he tested positive for coronavirus. He was already self-isolating but still couldn't stand up. The mother says she was told by the health department that little could be done for him.